Lanshu Beef Noodles (2006-06-01)
Chuka-Minzoku Restaurant in Shinjuku (
) is the only
restaurant in the entire Japan where one can eat genuine Lanshu Beef
Noodles. I know this because a foodie show on TV last month said
so, and when they say so (and anything else) on TV, it must be the
truth.Lanshu is a city in mainland China which apparently is famous for
its hand-pulled noodles topped with shredded beef. I dragged KL
to Shinjuku one day just to try out that restaurant to satisfy my
curiosity.
It was after midday when we arrived at the fairly large restaurant
but only two customers were inside. A couple of fat middle-aged
Chinese men in grimy chef coats were seated at a table near the
entrance chatting away merrily while a good-sized fly was buzzing
about. The restaurant was dim, hot and looked outdated. The
floor
felt kind of greasy to walk on and there was no air-conditioning
despite a temperature of 28C outside. The door of the restaurant
was wide opened through which muggy hot air streamed past.
KL wasn't too impressed with the whole setup but decided to sweat
(literally) it out to finish the meal with me. As soon as we sat
down (we were told to just pick our own table), an elderly lady brought
us a big jug of iced water from which I poured two cups and downed
immediately.
Our noodles came not five minutes after we placed the order and the
large serving was surprising. What's more surprising was the
aroma emitting from the broth: a very fragrant smell infused with star
anise, ginger, garlic, and spices and the fresh pungent scent of
chopped coriander and green onions floating on top of the soup.
The shredded beef was flavorful and there was
also some shredded fried tofu skin floating in the bowl to
soak up the spicy and mouth-watering broth. The noodles were
absolutely
delicious too--chewy and not overcooked.
Despite its shabby interior, Chuka-Minzoku serves up a really good bowl of beef noodles. I prefer that to Japanese ramen any day.
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